Planting Trees Improves Knowledge of and Attitudes about Plants

According to at least one expert, many students today suffer from what has been termed “plant blindness,” or an inability to notice plants or recognize their ecological and aesthetic importance. In some ways this blindness might also extend to the outdoor education community, because the authors of this paper note that most research focused on outdoor education does not measure the effect of programs on students' perceptions of and attitudes toward plants.

So the authors of this study investigated plants specifically. Because research reveals that traditional classroom techniques such as lectures and memorization often result in negative attitudes toward science, the authors asked whether an outdoor education program focused on trees could help relieve “plant blindness” and encourage more interest in biology. In particular, the authors considered whether the outdoor education program affected students' knowledge of and attitudes toward plants, and whether having a garden would influence students' attitudes toward plants. The researchers also investigated the role of students' gender on their attitudes and knowledge of plants, and examined whether participation in an outdoor education program could boost students' interest in biology as a school subject.

The researchers worked with fifth graders from an urban school in Slovakia. The experimental group, which consisted of 17 students, planted trees in a meadow near the school and participated in several non-formal botany lessons and outdoor activities related to plant identification. Another 17 students were part of a control group that was allowed to visit the meadow and play sports, but did not receive the corresponding botany instruction while in the field. Using assessments given two days before the experience, three days after the experience, and again three months later, the researchers were able to look for changes in the students' knowledge and attitudes toward trees and plants.

The researchers found that the outdoor education program positively influenced students' attitudes toward plants. There were also significant increases in knowledge of plants, even three months after completing the program. Having a garden at home proved to have no association with better baseline knowledge of plants. Females were found to capture more knowledge of plants than males, although attitudes increased similarly across both genders. And, the study's findings suggest that the outdoor program made biology a more attractive school subject. The authors conclude that “Outdoor programs can therefore play a promising role in improving 'plant blindness' and building more positive attitudes towards biology in general.”